Danger: Jam Sponge
Cakes the Ladies of the Women's Institute Bake For Patients are Banned by Hospital as a Potential Health Hazard
by James Mills

Think of cakes and you probably think of the Women's Institute. They go together like, well, jam and sponge.

With elderly patients at a hospital in Essex, the freshly baked Victoria sandwiches, tarts and fruit cakes brought in by the WI once a month certainly went down well.

But the tea-time treat has been banned by officials at Saffron Waldron Community Hospital - who have branded the cakes as a potential health hazard.

They claim they breach guidelines because the kitchens of the WI members have not been inspected.

Not surprisingly, at a time when hospital superbugs are claiming up to 20,000 lives a year, angry members of the WI are boiling like a pan of jam. "Whoever died from eating a jam tart or a Victoria sandwich?" said 62-year-old retired teacher Sue Bright, who specializes in jam sponges. "The poor patients will probably have to eat biscuits now instead."

Glynis Straker, a mother of three, said it was an insult to suggest her chocolate sponges could put the patients at risk. "This is just another example of the silly bureaucracy brought in at the expense of common sense," said the 49-year-old dental practice manager. "It really is getting out of hand.

"The WI are well known for their baking skills and home-made jam so we know what we are doing and our kitchens are certainly not a health hazard. In fact, they are probably a sight cleaner than some hospitals these days. I know they're worried about the MRSA bug, but it certainly isn't going to come from my kitchen. What are they providing for the patients now instead of our cakes?

"We've been making cakes for years now without any problems. We used to make them for Saffron Waldron Hospice until it closed a year ago and then we were asked to bake them for the elderly patients at the hospital.

There are 12 WI groups in the area and each month the members of one of the groups would make ten cakes. The patients loved them and always looked forward to our deliveries. It seems a shame they are now being denied this small pleasure."

The WI's cakes were banned after a routine inspection by the Uttlesford Primary Care Trust.

The Trust claims the decision was made after advice was sought from environmental health officers and the Department of Health.

A spokesman said: "We are not in any way suggesting the cakes the WI has kindly provided us are unsafe. However, the Trust has to adhere to strict hygiene criteria and without inspecting the kitchens of the WI members who prepare the cakes, we cannot eliminate all potential risks. The hospital treats very vulnerable elderly patients, many of whom have special dietary requirements. Patient safety is our top priority.

"The problem is that we have no authority to go in and inspect a private individual's kitchen. The WI is not a commercial business with whom we have a contract. We appreciate that some members will be upset, but we very much hope that we can continue to work with the WI in other ways."

A spokesman for Uttlesford District Council's environmental health department, said: "Everyone has to have a hazard assessment done when making and selling cakes to old people. These are established guidelines."

The Department of Health said it was up to individual hospitals to decide food policies as long as they met safety legislation.
Daily Mail, 29th July 2004

CTM COMMENT: Could not resist this classic example of the blind leading the blind and they both fall in a ditch. The big-hearted cake-making divas of the WI are of course understandably incensed at the rejection of their culinary talents, but for the right reasons? Apparently, it is not because of what all that sugar will do to people's cancer, fungi, yeast overgrowths, etc., but because patients may contract the MRSA super-bug!

Guess they'll have to make do with the sugar-laden biscuits instead.

Goodness, we're never going to be out of a job at CTM.

Ever.